


Back to Constants

by ultimatebellarke



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 19:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14722418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultimatebellarke/pseuds/ultimatebellarke
Summary: Clarke hasn't seen Madi or Bellamy all day--until she finds them together, laughing. Bellarke fam drabble.





	Back to Constants

Speeding past the barren trees, Clarke’s fingers are blistering from the metal canister. They hurt almost as much as her wrists, scalded from all the broth she is spilling. _Damn it._ At this rate, there’s going to be no soup left for Madi. Which would be just the best way to apologize for not visiting for the past six hours. _Clarke Griffin,_ she thinks bitterly, _caregiver of the year_. 

Logically, Clarke knows she shouldn’t be worried. She knows exactly where Madi is – quarantined in the Rover with plenty of paper and ink to keep her occupied – and kids break bones all the time. But it’s the first time she’s not there to braid Madi’s hair while she takes her herbs. To wrap new bandages on old wounds. To lull her to sleep with tales of monsters and princesses. 

Clarke grits her teeth, walking faster. She can’t even blame the Council for holding her back. Not entirely. Since, for the last hour, Clarke had interrogated 800 people on the whereabouts Bellamy Blake. He has been back less than a week and already Clarke has lost him. Literally. He had disappeared around lunchtime, and not a soul knew where he was. 

Almost impressive, really. Five days in and Clarke is on the edge of her sanity.

Clarke finally catches a glimpse of the Rover through the bare trees. The metal, despite years of grime, gleams in the moonlight. Instinctively, Clarke’s shoulders loosen. Somehow, despite all chaos, the Rover has been a constant. A reminder that not all things have to change. 

A peal of chime-like giggles cuts through the stillness. Clarke stumbles, spilling yet more broth on herself. That’s Madi. Why the hell is she laughing? 

Then she hears it: the muffled sound accompanying the chortles, much lower in pitch, yet a voice as familiar as her own. Bellamy is in the Rover with Madi. And whatever he’s saying is making her laugh—truly laugh, in a way she hasn’t since the day their worlds flipped. 

Curiosity wins over any ounce of logic. Slowing her pace, Clarke treads on hunter’s feet. Two feet away, distinct words filter through the closed doors. 

“It’s true,” Bellamy is saying. “That’s why the moon is out. Selene is riding the moon as her chariot.” 

“You’re a liar!” Madi says. Some part of Clarke notes the lack of pain her voice. Thank God. The herbs are working. 

Bellamy asks, “How do you know Selene _doesn’t_ make the moon rise?” 

“Because the moon is a rock. And it goes around the Earth all on its own. Clarke said so.” 

Clarke nearly hears the smile in Bellamy’s voice. “She did?” 

“She did.” 

“Alright. Then I guess I’m wrong. But Selene _did_ make a man fall asleep forever once.” 

“No way!” 

“Yup. His name was Endymion the Shepherd.” 

“ _Hakom? Em trip raun?_ ” 

Clarke bites back the urge to encourage Madi to speak English. Yet Bellamy responds without missing a beat. “No, it wasn’t ‘cause she was angry. She was in awe of how he looked when he was asleep. She couldn’t bear not watching.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Like how you watch Clarke?” 

Clarke nearly drops the canister. Her cheeks scorch as hot as her fingers, and she hears the choked, “What?” 

“Every night,” Madi says, her voice very matter-of-fact. “When she sleeps, you stare at her.” 

Another pause, through which her heart hammers. Bellamy’s voice is quieter when he responds. “Just making sure she’s still breathing.” 

“I know,” says Madi. Her voice is quieter, too. “I do the same. I can’t imagine…” Her voice trails off, leaving the thought ominously unfinished. 

Clarke’s chest clenches. Madi’s biggest concerns should be what colour ink she’s used up or if her favorite fish stops swimming upstream. She shouldn’t have to worry about these things. She shouldn’t have to worry at all. 

“ _Hey._ ” Bellamy’s voice is loud once more. “You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t let anything happen to her. Or to you.” 

Clarke’s chest tightens again, but this is different. The pressure no longer feels suffocating. In fact, for the first time today, Clarke remembers to breathe. 

Madi murmurs, “I’m glad you’re here. You make her really happy.” 

A soft chuckle. “You got it backwards.” 

She could stay out here the whole night, basking in their voices, but her fingers begin convulsing. The heat is too much for her fingers, and it’s all she can do to not release the canister right on the ground. 

Clarke fills the remaining distance to the rover with crashing stomps, making enough noise to send insects skittering. “Madi! Dinner!” 

The Rover’s door opens to Madi’s grin. She is snuggled in so many layers of tarp that she takes up more space than Bellamy. “Did they roast the bird?” 

Clarke hates to break that smile. “Not tonight. We’re saving the meat for later.” 

“Oh. That’s alright.” Her smile, thank God, does not falter. 

Bellamy reaches forward, taking the canister from Clarke’s hands, as if he can sense that her fingers are going to fall off. “Smells amazing,” he says, “Nearly as good as Monty Green’s Green Goop.” He sends her a sly smile, and automatically, she feels her lips pull in response. 

She forces her face to remain neutral. “We’ve been looking for you. We have walkie-talkies for a reason.” 

That smile does not fade as he lifts a shoulder. “Needed a break but I lost track of time. Sorry, Princess.” 

Six years – countless moments apart, a myriad of unfathomable changes – and yet that word has the same effect as it did since she was a teenager. Maybe, six years from now, he will have the same effect. Or, maybe, Bellamy Blake will affect her for all of eternity. 

Clarke looks away before she goes crazy from the thought. She turns to Madi, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. “No fever. How’s that wrist?”

“Broken.” 

Clarke ignores Bellamy’s responding smirk. “It’s going to stay that way if you keep climbing those flimsy trees.” 

“I wouldn’t have to if the regular ones were still around.” 

The regular trees. The ones under control of Diyoza. Clarke softens her voice. “I know. But you have to be careful.” 

“Can we go back when I’m better? I won’t climb as high, I promise. I want to show Bellamy how to make the dye.” 

Clarke can’t help but smile. “Only if you promise to color his hair.” 

“Wait a minute,” Bellamy says, but he is drowned out by Madi’s squeal. She asks Clarke, “His beard too?” 

“Of course.” 

Bellamy’s calls of protest can’t be heard over Madi’s delight, the excited sputtering of plans which follow. His eyes meet Clarke’s, wide in panic. Clarke only smiles. If she’s learned anything about Bellamy Blake in these years, it’s that he looks good in goddamn everything. 

A sharp burst of static cuts over Madi’s elation. The radio, buzzing against Clarke’s hip. “Clarke. We need you back here. Now.” 

Clarke sighs. It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes. Maybe she should just ignore it. Throw the radio outside, cuddle with Madi, listen to the story of Selene and— 

“They have Abby. They’re using her as a bartering point. Hurry.” 

All of the warmth in Clarke’s chest is snatched, replaced by ice. _No, no, no._ The thought of her mother, gaunt and trembling, makes it hard to form thoughts. Hard to breathe. What are they doing to her? What the hell can Clarke do? 

“Clarke.” Bellamy’s voice brings her back. His eyes rest heavy on Clarke’s, rooting her to reality. “You need to go. I’ll stay with Madi. Join you as soon as I can.” 

Clarke manages to nod. Madi is safe, and Bellamy is with her, and for now, that has to be enough. Stumbling forward in the cramped space, she lands a kiss on Madi’s forehead. Then, without thinking, she turns her head and does the same to Bellamy. 

She only realizes what she’s done when Bellamy becomes completely still underneath her. Yet her mind is racing with too much fear to make sense of anything. Clarke jumps out of the Rover with a final look back. Already, she is counting down the minutes until she is back to her constants. Until she is back home.


End file.
